We have exciting news for all of our members and friends! KNPS is happy to announce this year’s Wildflower Weekend has been scheduled for April 11th -13th, 2025, at Carter Caves State Resort Park in Carter County! Beginning in 2023, the KNPS Board decided that we would alternate Wildflower Weekend between the longtime host site, Natural Bridge SRP, in even numbered years, and then a different state park in odd numbered years. This year, our annual Wildflower Weekend will be held at Carter Caves SRP.
The event will include guided hikes through beautiful natural areas throughout the weekend, a Friday Evening Friends & Members Social, and Saturday evening presentations.
Carter county is a hot spot of Viola diversity in Kentucky, with 13 species of Viola found in the county. One species of violet was selected to be the species around which the Wildflower Weekend 2025 logo design will focus, the three-parted yellow violet (Viola tripartita). It is native to Eastern North America, being primarily found in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. The species is rare throughout its range, especially so in Kentucky where it has only been reported from Carter County.
Throughout its long history, Wildflower Weekend has been an enriching experience to our members and beyond, offering guided hikes to explore Kentucky’s rich natural history and resources. We are looking forward to hiking new trails, seeing new wildflowers, and increasing access to this event for members in a different part of the state. To celebrate and educate about the unique caves of Carter Caves SRP, KNPS has partnered with the park to provide private KNPS group tours of Bat Cave and Cascade Cave.
We hope you will join us and other nature lovers, families, community scientists, amateur naturalists, and professional botanists from across the Commonwealth, to explore the beauty and diversity of our native plants this April.
Our Saturday Evening Talks Include
Diversity of Mosses and Liverworts at Cave Entrances at Mammoth Cave National Park
Morghan McCool, PhD Candidate and Bryophyte Ecologist at University of Louisville
Lichens of Carter Caves State Resort Park
Dr. Allen Risk, Morehead State University
Keynote: Forests, Carbon and Climate Change
Dr. Mary Arthur, Professor Emeritus, UK Department of Forestry
Attendees will be able pre-register for the event, as well as the guided hikes. Pre-registration will be opened online sometime in February. Members of KNPS will be allowed to register before registration is opened to the general public and will be notified directly by email when registration begins. Registration for the general public will be announced in the February issue of the Lady Slipper blog.
iNaturalist Botany Blitz Kicks Off Wildflower Weekend across Kentucky
The week prior to Wildflower Weekend, KNPS will be hosting our annual week-long, state-wide Botany Blitz on iNaturalist from April 5th-13th. Botany Blitz allows us to broaden our spring wildflower scope to the entire state of Kentucky and allows us to highlight natural areas across the commonwealth! Even if you will not be able to attend Wildflower Weekend 2025, we would love it if you would join the Botany Blitz project and record observations of wildflowers in your region. If you work/volunteer at a natural area in Kentucky and would like to partner with us to host a Kick Off Hike at your site to kick off the Botany Blitz week, please check out this post, Botany Blitz 2025 & Kick Off Hikes – Call for Hike Leaders, and fill out the attached form.
If you have any questions, just shoot us an email to WildflowerWeekend2025@knps.org. We hope to see you in April.